TRENTON – Loretta Weinberg is one of the few people volunteering that she knew about the gridlock-inducing lane closures on the Fort Lee side of the George Washington Bridge.

The 78-year-old Bergen County Democrat, who represents the 37th District in the state Senate, said she learned of the lane closures from news reports and from her constituents in mid-September, so she sent a letter to William “Pat” Schuber, a commissioner on the board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Now finding those answers is partially her responsibility. On Jan. 27, she became the co-chair of the New Jersey Legislative Select Committe on Investigation, which she called a “pretty awesome responsibility” in her three-decade political career.

A mother of two, Weinberg became politically active around the time of the Civil Rights movement, serving on “various” civic organizations, she said. She served on the Teaneck Town Council from 1990 to 1994.

But she had strong interests in health care issues and increasing government transparency. “Those are things you get passed in Trenton, not on the local level,” she said.

Weinberg got her chance in 1992, when she was selected to fill an Assembly vacancy. She won six terms in the Assembly and was selected for a Senate vacancy in 2005.

In 2009, Weinberg ran on then-Gov. Jon S. Corzine’s ticket to serve as lieutenant governor. They lost to Chris Christie and running mate Kim Guadagno.

“We all know that there are problems at the Port Authority,” she said on Monday in her introduction to a vote to establish the joint investigation committee. She added, “Some have called the Port Authority the 51st state.”